2019 started off with a bang. I had planned to interview music author John Borack via Skype or telephone, from his home in Southern California, for the first Twirl Radio episode of the year. But then he dropped me a little note, and asked how I’d feel if the interview were an in-person one instead. Sign me up! He decided to combine the interview with a visit to family here in NorCal, and Sacramento was the perfect jumping off point.

John’s got quite a few irons in the fire. He recently finished his book “Shake Some Action 2.0: An updated guide to the 200 greatest power pop albums 1970-2017”. I didn’t know him last decade, when his first book was published, so we had a lot to catch up on with just that topic alone.

But wait–there’s more. If you purchased the book, you also got the long awaited CD from his band Popdudes, “Maximum Rock Stupidity”. Popdudes is a loose musical collective, featuring Michael Simmons, and a rotating cast of other musical characters, including Robbie Rist–but the one constant is John, holding forth behind the drum kit. They’ve released several singles over the years, a perfect blend of originals and creative covers, but never released a proper album. Until now. It’s a really fun listen.

John also writes reviews for Goldmine Magazine, and is quite the collector himself. We went music shopping earlier in the day here in Sacramento with our mutual music friend Stephen “Spaz” Schnee, and just wait until you hear what John unearthed on vinyl. Yes, he really did “go there”, and you’ll hear the results on the show.